New Unintended Acceleration Petition Filed

Toyota thought the scourge of unintended acceleration was finally behind them. They had, after all, recalled millions of cars, paid hefty fines to the government, entered talks to settle hundreds of class-action lawsuits and even paid out $1.6 billion to owners because the trade-in value of their vehicles had diminished. Besides, the world's attention had turned to GM's ignition switch fiasco. So are Toyota's problems with unintended acceleration in the rearview mirror? Not so fast, or in this case ... slow.

A Rhode Island man, Robert Ruginis, has filed a petition to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) claiming Toyota vehicles continue to suffer from unintended acceleration at slow speeds. The petition was prompted by Mr. Ruginis' personal experience with the problem, but he's also gathered evidence on 83 additional incidents -- resulting in 34 injuries -- involving 2006-2010 Corollas surging at slow speeds.

We are awaiting NHTSA's response. Because it's the government they've given themselves a generous 120 days to respond ... that even has snails thinking, boy, that's slow. For more information or to read the petition, visit our website. If NHTSA moves forward with an investigation, we'll let you know about it.

Here's your chance to make a difference. If you've experienced strange surging or problems braking (or any other issue with your Corolla) tell us about it. There is a growing list of evidence supporting this petition's claims:

• 2006 Corolla surges while stopped and has sudden unintended acceleration
• 2007 Corolla vehicle speed control problems
• 2008 Corolla vehicle speed control issues
• 2009 Corolla surges and suddenly accelerates
• 2010 Corolla accelerator problems

Want to hold Toyota responsible for this problem? Here's what to do:

1. Add your complaint to CarComplaints.com
2. Forward this email to anyone else you know who owns a 2006-10 Corolla. Or tell them to sign up for their own free alerts
3. Share this story on Twitter or Facebook to get the word out.

If you complete any of those steps we'll give you our most enthusiastic virtual high five because you're awesome.

Want to Learn More?

4 Million Vehicles Recalled for Unintended Acceleration

Toyota believes the problems are caused by stuck gas pedals or misplaced floor mats that trapped the gas pedals. Independent testing by NASA and other outside laboratories agreed with Toyota and concluded driver error was also a contributin